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In insects, vitellogenin (Vg) is generally viewed as a female‐specific protein. Its primary function is to supply nutrition to developing embryos. Here, we reported Vg from the male adults of a natural predator, Chrysopa pallens. The male Vg was depleted by RNAi. Mating with Vg‐deficient male downregulated female Vg expression, suppressed ovarian development and decreased reproductive output. Whole‐organism transcriptome analysis after male Vg knockdown showed no differential expression of the known spermatogenesis‐related regulators and seminal fluid protein genes, but a sharp downregulation of an unknown gene, which encodes a testis‐enriched big protein (Vcsoo). Separate knockdown of male Vg and Vcsoo disturbed the assembly of spermatid cytoplasmic organelles in males and suppressed the expansion of ovary germarium in mated females. These results demonstrated that C. pallens male Vg signals through the downstream Vcsoo and regulates male and female reproduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding predator–prey interactions is essential for successful pest management by using predators, especially for the suppression of novel invasive pest. The green lacewing Chrysopa formosa is a promising polyphagous predator that is widely used in the biocontrol of various pests in China, but information on the control efficiency of this predator against the seriously invasive pest Spodoptera frugiperda and native Spodoptera litura is limited. Here we evaluated the predation efficiency of C. formosa adults on eggs and first- to third-instar larvae of S. frugiperda and S. litura through functional response experiments and determined the consumption capacity and prey preference of this chrysopid. Adults of C. formosa had a high consumption of eggs and earlier instar larvae of both prey species, and displayed a type II functional response on all prey stages. Attack rates of the chrysopid on different prey stages were statistically similar, but the handling time increased notably as the prey developed. The highest predation efficiency and shortest-handling time were observed for C. formosa feeding on Spodoptera eggs, followed by the first-instar larvae. C. formosa exhibited a significant preference for S. litura over S. frugiperda in a two-prey system. In addition, we summarized the functional response and predation efficiency of several chrysopids against noctuid pests and made a comparison with the results obtained from C. formosa. These results indicate that C. formosa has potential as an agent for biological control of noctuid pests, particularly for the newly invasive pest S. frugiperda in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N6 medium, Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium and NB medium were adopted in tissue cultures of Nipponbare (japonica) scutellum for performance comparison. Results indicated that, among the three kinds of culture media, the NB medium worked best in callus induction and gene transformation and was most suitable for tissue culture of Nipponbare scutellum. Based on this, the elicitor-encoding gene pemG1 from Magnaporthe grisea was introduced into the genome of Nipponbare via the Agrobacterium-mediated method. Transgenic rice plants were obtained. The integration, transcription and expression of pemG1 in rice were confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Northern blot and Western blot, respectively. Genetic analysis showed that the transgenes were segregated normally in the progenies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The pemG1 gene from Magnaporthe grisea was transferred into tobacco (Nicotiana tobacum cv. Samsun NN) to test its functions. Plant expression vector pCAMBIA2300-Ubi-pemG1-Oc harboring elicitor-encoding gene pemG1 was constructed. The maize ubiquitin promoter/octopine synthase terminator system and kanamycin-resistant gene npt II were used for constitutive expression systems. The vector was then introduced into Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain AGL-1 with freeze-thaw method. Tobacco primary transformants were produced by leaf disc transformation. The kanamycin-resistant regenerated plants were confirmed to be electropositive by PCR. Integration and expression of the pemG1 gene were further confirmed by Southern blotting and Western blotting analyses. Transgenic tobacco plants of T2 generation were successively inoculated with Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) at virus concentrations of 0.2 and 0.5 mg per leaf. In comparison with TMV-infected wild-type plants, PemG1-expressed plants displayed reduced hypersensitive-response lesions in both inoculation treatments. Furthermore, accumulation level of pemG1 steady-state transcripts was examined at 24 h after inoculation. The results indicated that the reduction of lesions corresponded to the accumulation of pemG1 steady-state transcripts as monitored by Northern blotting analysis. All these indicated that the expression of pemG1 in tobacco plants improved the resistance to TMV. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The risk for suffering immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs)-associated myocarditis increases in patients with pre-existing conditions and the mechanisms remain to be clarified. Spatial transcriptomics, single-cell RNA sequencing, and flow cytometry are used to decipher how anti-cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 m2a antibody (anti-CTLA-4 m2a antibody) aggravated cardiac injury in experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM) mice. It is found that anti-CTLA-4 m2a antibody increases cardiac fibroblast-derived C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 1 (Cxcl1), which promots neutrophil infiltration to the myocarditic zones (MZs) of EAM mice via enhanced Cxcl1-Cxcr2 chemotaxis. It is identified that the C-C motif chemokine ligand 5 (Ccl5)-neutrophil subpopulation is responsible for high activity of cytokine production, adaptive immune response, NF-κB signaling, and cellular response to interferon-gamma and that the Ccl5-neutrophil subpopulation and its-associated proinflammatory cytokines/chemokines promoted macrophage (Mφ) polarization to M1 Mφ. These altered infiltrating landscape and phenotypic switch of immune cells, and proinflammatory factors synergistically aggravated anti-CTLA-4 m2a antibody-induced cardiac injury in EAM mice. Neutralizing neutrophils, Cxcl1, and applying Cxcr2 antagonist dramatically alleviates anti-CTLA-4 m2a antibody-induced leukocyte infiltration, cardiac fibrosis, and dysfunction. It is suggested that Ccl5-neutrophil subpopulation plays a critical role in aggravating anti-CTLA-4 m2a antibody-induced cardiac injury in EAM mice. This data may provide a strategic rational for preventing/curing ICIs-associated myocarditis., (© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)